Nepo Takes the Lead - Candidates Tournament Round 4

The results of the 4th round are here: 

Nepo goes into the lead! In the Nepo vs Vidit match, Nepo won!

The Berlin Defense was played, leading to a "Berlin endgame". A very complex endgame arose, but Black was well placed. White played on the kingside and Black logically on the queenside, where he nicely activated his rook after 24...Ra5 to Rb5. The first critical position arose after 26.Bc1, when Black played 26...Rb3?! However, 26...c4! was stronger, attacking the e5 pawn. Nepo then effectively executed the move 27.g6! gaining an advantage. Nepo then resolutely pushed his "e" pawn.

The second critical position, and perhaps the most important phase of the game, came after 37.Ke4. Black was low on time and probably miscalculated, playing 37...Re8?? He should have captured the pawn with 37...Nxe7! and then taken on b2, having two pawns for a piece with chances for a draw. However, the game went much worse. At first glance, it seemed okay because Vidit didn't have to give up a piece, but after 39.Bc1! it was clear things were bad. Nepo rightfully won and leads the tournament!

There was a tough battle in the game Caruana vs Gukesh.

The Italian Game was played, where Fabi employed a plan to advance on the queenside, moving his knight to f5. Gukesh responded with play in the center, but did not equalize the position. He had to defend strenuously, doing so very well with 17...Ne7! After 18.Nxe5, complications followed, which turned out well for Black (24...Qd4!), nearly equalizing the position, although he still had to defend. Fabi eventually won a pawn, but it was ineffective and the game ended in a draw.

The match between Nakamura and Pragg was rather dull.

A Spanish game with 5.d3 was played. Hikaru responded well by playing 13...Ne7 with ...Be6 and ...Qd7. The position fully equalized and the game soon ended in a draw by repetition of moves.

The match between Abasov and Firouzja was interesting.

It's more than clear that Nijat's match strategy was to play calmly and wait if the opponent "goes crazy". The game quickly transitioned into symmetry, where White might have had a slight plus, but it quickly dissipated. Minor complications followed with 15.Bxb5, ending in an even position. Although Ali later won a pawn, it was an ineffective pawn on one wing. Similar to Fabi's game, Ali had an extra pawn in a queen endgame. He tried for a long time, but the game ended in a draw.

https://lichess.org/broadcast
https://candidates2024.fide.com/#news